1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a competitive game of skill requiring an increasingly high degree of hand-eye coordination, and more particularly to such game where any number of a plurality of balls are in action at any one time, being received and returned by a pair of opponents.
2. Prior Art
Heretofore competitive ball and paddle games have been proposed.
For example, hockey type games are proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,785,648 and 4,261,568, and a croquet game apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,863. These games are played on a horizontal surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,470 discloses a ball rolling game including an inclined ramp centered over a divided catching field with divisions of the field into which the balls fall having various point values.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,294 discloses a competitive projectile game having a totally enclosed inclined playing surface wherein a single reboundable ball is launched toward and rebounded from a flexible rebound barrier toward an opposing player using a block like paddle.
The skill game includes paddle members used to maneuver any desired number of a plurality of reboundable balls from one opponent toward another opponent with the playing surface being inclined toward adjacent play stations at a lower open end of the surface.
Each opponent has one set of up to four or more balls, depending on the desired level of difficulty, and any number of balls may be sequentially launched upon the playing surface and simultaneously played. Play begins when one or both opponents launch a first ball and ceases when either opponent allows a ball to escape the playing surface.